With his mouth slightly opened...
"..."
Raven remained motionless for a while, he's still trying to take in the information of his newly evolved skill.
"Should we start?"
"Hm?"
What snapped Raven out of his stupor was Ruby's voice.
"..."
Ruby noticed that Raven seems to be a little different than usual...
"Are you okay?"
So she straight up asked him if something was wrong.
After hearing her worried question, Raven activated <Calm Thinker> to hold back his excitement.
And with a nonchalant demeanor...
"Oh... Yeah, I'm good."
He replied to Ruby along with a light shrug to ease her worry.
'Oh, now he's back to normal...'
Ruby thought after seeing Raven's calm face.
And though she still has some doubts...
"Are you ready to start?"
Ruby ignored them, she knows that Raven was never normal after all.
"I'm ready."
Raven replied.
And soon they started their training to control Raven's presence.
*****
[Raven's POV]
My training with Ruby to keep my overwhelming presence under my control started.
What I discovered was in other students' eyes, I'm like a sun up close that no one would dare to direct look at.
Also Ruby, Keara, Levina, and Yuki are completely unaffected by my dominating aura.
I concluded that this is because I don't feel even a bit of hatred towards them.
And obviously, those who are stronger than me can resist my pressing presence.
...
"The first step to control your presence is to be aware of it."
"You wouldn't be able to control something you're not able to grasp, to begin with."
Ruby stated as I was sitting in a lotus position.
"What do you mean by that?"
I asked her.
Then almost immediately...
"Know its range, strength, and density."
Ruby replied, her words seems abstract.
But I understood them to some extent with the help of <Understanding>.
So with that information in mind, I started meditating.
I closed my eyes, then started breathing in a certain rhythm Ruby taught me beforehand.
Not long, I entered a trance state.
"Calm yourself."
I heard Ruby say that.
Then out of impulse...
"I'm always calm as fuck."
I replied.
"Seeing how you can still hear me and reply, you're not fully focused yet."
Ruby then sternly said.
"..."
I became silent.
I tried to sense my own presence once again.
But after a few seconds, a few minutes...
I was still unable to feel it.
It's so deeply hidden in my subconsciousness that I'm unable to even feel a grasp of it!
"I can't feel it."
I mumbled while still meditating.
"It's not that easy, and you're being impatient, that's why."
And I received a reply from Ruby.
"I know, but is there a way to make this easier?"
I asked, still have my eyes closed.
"..."
I didn't hear anything from Ruby for a while.
Then after a few seconds...
"Try releasing your presence to the max output you can."
Ruby's alluring voice entered my ears.
"Eh? Are you sure?"
I asked Ruby after comprehending her words.
"With your presence at its strongest, it would be much easier for you to sense it."
Ruby then explained.
And even though I'm a bit hesitant...
"Then... I'll do so."
I decided to follow Ruby's suggestion.
And to be honest, I'm excited to try out my new skill at its strongest.
"Ready when you are."
Ruby declared.
And without further ado...
'<Emperor's Aura>'
I released my presence.
I made it as strong as possible... And scattered it as far as possible!
***
After Raven activated <Emperor's Aura>...
"?!"
Ruby was startled by it, making her jump backward away from Raven.
She was ready, but Raven's aura was several times stronger than what she expected!
"This..."
Raven's pressing aura was surrounding Ruby, and it is trying to dominate her!
So in the end, Ruby has no choice but to use her own presence to protect herself!
"I'm sure of it..."
Ruby mumbled after confirming something.
Then...
'While it might be uncontrolled and unrefined right now...'
'It's as strong as my aura when I was <S-> rank!'
Ruby thought while looking at Raven with mixed emotions.
...
Of course, it was not just Ruby who felt Raven's overwhelming presence.
Inside the headmaster's office...
Leo and Kendy were talking about something weird.
When Raven suddenly activated his skill!
The two immediately sensed his aura, and it made them frown unconsciously.
"What a strong presence..."
Kendy whispered.
"But I don't know whose is it."
Then he suddenly stood up.
He's planning to take care of the owner of the said presence.
Kendy concluded that it was from an intruder because he doesn't know whose aura is it.
"You stupid brat, can't you recognize who's releasing it?"
Leo then suddenly asked and stopped Kendy from rushing out through one of the office's windows.
Kendy looked at Leo weirdly.
"What do you mean?"
Then he asked.
Leo looked back at Kendy.
Then he just smiled without answering!
Though, curiosity and excitement can be seen on his face!
'Creepy old dude.'
Kendy thought as his frown got deeper after seeing Leo being like that.
Then, he looked back at where the presence is coming from.
'It's coming from one of the training grounds reserved for us professors.'
And not long...
'!'
Kendy sensed another strong presence in the same place!
"Oh..."
But this time, he recognized whose is it.
'It's just Ruby.'
Kendy thought.
Then...
"Huh?"
He suddenly remembered something.
"Aren't Ruby supposed to be with Raven, training him to control his presence?"
Kendy mumbled.
"No fucking way..."
And it didn't take long for realization to hit him.
"He's really an interesting kid, right?"
Leo asked Kendy, but he was not expecting an answer.
"..."
Which is good because Kendy is still confused about what's happening.
...
Raven's presence was felt by every professor inside the Lunar.
Which alerted them and made them nervous.
Like Kendy, they thought they were being attacked by a crazy intruder.
But that stopped when Leo called all of them and explained what was happening.
But even after knowing who is releasing that intimidating aura...
The professors are still nervous, but now for a different reason now though.
'We have a monster in making inside the academy!'
Is what they all thought.
...
Anyway...
Some students who have sensitive senses also felt Raven's dominating aura.
Those who aren't strong enough got sluggish.
And some of them even passed out!
But because the professors knows what was happening, they were able to help them immediately.
Of course, the main characters felt it too, but unlike the others, they immediately concluded who was responsible for it.
"It's Raven."
"Yeah, it's him."
"I can't think of anyone else except him."
Blake, Aoi, and Adelle stated in the same order.
"What the hell is he doing this time."
"Something stupidly out of common sense, I reckon."
Then Curtis and Eve followed.
"Haha..."
Alex just laughed awkwardly.
They might seem relaxed, but after sensing Raven's absurd presence...
They were reminded of something.
'Even now, Raven is still getting stronger.'
Which made their resolve to get stronger resurface once again!
'I don't care what is it, but I need to do something to get stronger...'
The group thought in unison.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶